Califormula
by x Ruby Dust x
Summary: Lya Epps travels to California to visit her Aunt Addie and get her life back in order. The story told through the eyes of the employees at Oceanside Wellness. usual pairings and DellOC. Rated for T sex.language. REVIEW PLEASE!


_Note: This takes place after Season 1 Episode 7. Also, I think I may have a few things that may need correcting in this fic. I usually do research for works that I'm not completely familiar with, but my computer has been dumb lately. I ask that if you notice a mistake, please bring it to my attention so that it may be corrected. Thanks!_

_I hope you enjoy! And review, please! i like those:) _

(Title taken from 10 Years song "Prey" on "The Autumn Effect" cd.

"All at a time  
All in the same  
**Califormula**  
I've become prey  
Strolling down  
In my face  
These tears I'm not crying  
This will not kill me.")

**William "Dell" Parker**

She had just walked in out of the rain, a surfboard under her arm and a smile perched on her high cheekbones. She just nonchalantly walked in, stuck out her hand, and introduced herself as Lya Epps, here to see Dr. Sam Bennett. She was thoroughly soaked through, her white tank-top was completely see-through by now to reveal a bikini top underneath. The fiery orange red in her suit mimicked the vibrant color of her curly red hair, cascading down from the top of her head like a waterfall which was ruining the carpet.

Dell picked up the phone and punched in the number for Sam's office. "Uh, Sam? There's someone here to see you at the front desk."

He then groaned and leaned backwards in his chair, throwing his hands over his head and sighing deeply. Oceanside Wellness had been so inexplicably uneventful that day, all of its employees were starting to see the effects of the lull. Dell, for example, had been totally unmotivated to do just about anything. He had sat at his desk and answered phones. That's about all. Ultimately, that could only mean one thing: a tidal wave of activity was about to burst through the doors and drown them all in work. Dell loved his work, so the sheer boredom was driving him crazy. He wanted to get his hands dirty a little. Hell, he had just delivered a baby the other day. That high was starting to wear off, and he wanted another.

Sam came jogging out of his office. He passed Dell without even mumbling a "thank you" and embraced his visitor without regard to his particularly nice clothing. Curious, Dell took the phone off the hook and leaned forward on his desk. If nothing exciting could happen to him, he might as well try to find something else to preoccupy himself. It wasn't eavesdropping. Really. It wasn't.

Sam pulled away from her hug and held her an arm's length apart. "Lya! What brings _you_ to California?"

Lya smiled sweetly at him, resting her board on the ground and leaning on it. "The surf, what else?"

Sam chuckled and started leading her away, back into his office. "Addison didn't tell me you were visiting?"

"That's cause Aunt Addie doesn't know."

And that's all Dell could hear before they disappeared behind Sam's office door.

**Dr. Addison Montgomery**

He hadn't called. He hadn't said a word to her. Pete was avoiding her. Worse, Pete had stood her up.

Addison couldn't remember the last time she had been stood up. High school? Maybe college? It was all just so fuzzy in her mind. It all seemed so juvenile, yet the pit of her stomach was churning with the thought of being rejected. The churning turned into a burning sensation in her throat. Pushing heavily against her belly button, Addison made a dash for the nearest bathroom and quickly ejected her breakfast.

She felt a lot better after she had retched, but there was still a feint smell of uneasiness in the air. Something was off, and it made her head spin.

Addison sat down at her deck, her arms positioned in a way to make a pillow for her head on its surface. The day was going by all too slow, she thought. That is, until Sam knocked on her door. But Sam didn't pass through the threshold. Lya entered before him, and Sam closed the door before the girl could change her mind about talking with her aunt.

"Lya?"

"Hey, Aunt Addison."

Addison shot upright and stood, leaning on the desk for support. Her legs just felt so weak all of a sudden, she was worrying what would happen if she didn't have assistance. She gave her nearly identical niece a once over, seeing her wet appearance and turning the confusion she was feeling into a contorted expression. "Are you alright?"

"Fine. A little water logged, but I couldn't pass up those waves the storm is bringing in. How are you?" Her smile was no longer quite so sweet, but it was still there. "My mother was supposed to call you."

Addison cocked her head, "I never got any... why?"

Lya shrugged, "She thought it would be good for me out here."

Just there - with those ten words - Addison knew that the atmospheric discontent was because of her niece's unexplained visit. "Lya, what's really going on?"

Lya watched the frown furrow between her aunt's unusually symmetric eyebrows. "Fine," she said, throwing her arms in the air, "I got in a little bit of trouble this summer. My mom kicked me out, and sent me to live with you." The furrow deepened. "Fine! She actually sent me to live with my dad, but, let's face it, I'd die without an ocean and Philadelphia is kinda far from any surfable water," she talked quickly.

Addison sighed, "What kind of trouble?"

"You just skip right through the pleasantries, don't you, Addie?"

Addison scowled, again not surprised. Her niece was here with her, and that meant nothing but trouble. "Delilah Elizabeth Epps, turn off your goddam bitch switch and tell me exactly what I rightly deserve to know before I send you back to the east coast to rot away in an apartment complex in North Philly." Unbeknownst to her, Addison's hands had balled into fists and slammed down on her desk.

"I get that reaction a lot." Lya responded, but Addison could tell that she had knocked the girl down a peg or two. Her tone was no longer as menacing as it usually was, but somewhat shaky. It's how she normally responded to being full-named. "Jeez, Addie. Can't you cut me a break just this once?"

"Why would I?"

Lya sighed, directed her gaze to her feet, and pouted. "Remember Kyle?"

"Your prep school boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Well, we kinda got caught doing some stuff we shouldn't have been..."

Addison's eyebrows raised, finally surprised. Lya was always one for an attitude, but she rarely misbehaved intentionally. She was more of a mental abuser than a physical one. "Like..."

"Guess."

"So what does that have to do with you being in California?"

"Well, you are a baby expert."

Her mouth gaped open, searching for words. When she finally found some, Addison could only speak in short, choppy sentences. "You're...not..._pregnant_...are you?"

**Dr. Sam Bennett**

"NO!" Lya's voice rang out.

He heard the screaming coming through Addison's door, but refused to intervene. Instead, he crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall, closing his eyes and looking upward. When he finally opened them again, Naomi was standing in front of him, scowling. It was awkward between him and his ex-wife lately, but Sam found no problem reaching out and wrapping an arm around her waist to stop her from going in to see Addison. "You might not want to go in there."

**Dr. Naomi Bennett**

His interference had annoyed her. Naomi was confused. She needed to talk to Addison. He was preventing that. "And just why not?"

Before he could answer, Lya had burst through the door, Addison storming after her heels. "Delilah, get back here!"

Naomi pivoted, watching Lya stomp out into the rain, not before slamming one more door behind her. "That was sweet, little Delilah?" She asked, wondering just what the hell was going on.

"Yeah. Only she's not so little. And _definitely _not sweet!" Addison replied, brushing some misplaced hairs out of her face.

Naomi decided not to further the topic, grabbed Addison's elbow, and pulled her back into the office. Upon entering, she shut the door tightly and stared at the outline of Sam through the frosted window: waiting for a moment, than walking back to his own office. "I can't believe this! I can't believe it..."

"Well, do I have a story for you. I need your advice. See..." Naomi tried to tell her story, but Addison started pacing rapidly, like a caged animal. She started pulling at her crimson hair, snarling and gritting her teeth.

"I mean, first Pete stands me up, then my sister pawns Lya off on me to fix all her problems. Doesn't anyone ever think that_ I_ have a life? That I have better things to do than fix everyone else's problems?" she yelled, finally slumping down on her couch. Addison let out one last growl than hid her face behind a pillow. "My sister should have known that once she told Lya she had to go to her father's, she would end up here anyway. This isn't the first time it's happened. Remember the fourth of July that one year when I was visiting? I'm not even sure how she knew I was here... but that girl could ALWAYS find me."

Naomi sighed loudly, feeling her growing sense of annoyance turn into a particularly nasty headache. She understood where Addison was coming from. Really. She did. She just didn't really care. Addison was stressed out, and Pete had embarrassed her. But Naomi was feeling confused, upset, and, worst of all, sexually frustrated. Her symptoms trumped Addison's any day.

Addison started her second round of bitching, still speaking directly into the pillow. Naomi - reaching her absolute boiling point - reached out and snatched the pillow from Addison's face. With a loud howl, she threw her arms out and confessed, "I slept with Sam!"

**Dr. Pete Wilder**

Pete had to stop and do a double take as he walked passed Addison's office. Had he really just heard that? Did he really want to know the answer to that question? Probably not, because he already knew the answer. Naomi had said it. Hadn't she?

The more he just stood there, staring at the wooden portal, the more time he was giving himself to think. Seconds had turned into minutes before he finally came up with the conclusion that he had completely confused himself. Now, he was wonder if Naomi had said anything. Maybe Addison hadn't even noticed that Pete hadn't shown up the other night.

**Dr. Cooper Freedman**

Cooper, trudging down the corridor with a frown and a giant invisible, flashing sign that screamed "Get out of my way!", stopped abruptly when he saw Pete standing in the middle of the hall. By himself. Talking to a door.

"You're alright in the head, right?" he asked, turning off his sign for just a second to see what was going on.

Pete's gaze never faltered from the door. "Has Violet told you anything about Addison lately?"

Cooper laughed, "Violet's not exactly talking to me right now, so no." Hey, if Coop couldn't laugh at the situation, who could?

Pete turned his head hesitantly. "Everything okay?" It was an instinctual question. It suddenly became very awkward between them. Men didn't ask other men about their feelings. That's just not how things work.

Cooper opened his mouth as if to respond to the question, but felt the uncomfortableness envelope him. Instead, he nodded and looked away. Violet, who was just coming back from running an errand, came in from the rain and spotted them. She walked over to Pete, ignoring Cooper and making his stomach drop.

**Dr. Violet Turner**

"There's some girl with a surfboard standing outside. I told her to come in and she glared at me like I was the devil."

Pete shrugged, still watching Cooper who was now looking at his feet. Violet say it too, but chose to ignore it. Dell, breaking the silence between them, stepped up and announced that the first patient of the morning had arrived for Pete. He excused himself and left Violet and Cooper.

Violet, sincerely embarrassed at Cooper's presence, made the motion to walk away, but a pleading look in Cooper's suddenly direct eyes made her think twice.

"We need to talk, Violet," he spoke in a deep, disappointed voice.

"About what, Cooper. How you humiliated me? I don't think so." With those last words, she turned and walked away from him like he had done to her the night before.


End file.
